Source: Hard AI

Continue to fight for AI supremacy!$Amazon (AMZN.US)$Huge sums of money were spent to build a “base” for super AI.

According to media reports, cloud computing giant Amazon is planning to invest about 150 billion US dollars in the construction and operation of global data centers over the next 15 years to cope with the surge in demand for artificial intelligence applications and other digital services.

According to reports, most of the expansion of Amazon's data center is to meet the growing demand for enterprise services such as file storage and databases, mainly to provide huge computing power support for the rapid development of generative AI.

Kevin Miller, vice president of AWS, who oversees the company's data centers, told the media:

“We are significantly expanding our data center, and I think this has given us the ability to get closer to our customers.”

Currently, in the cloud service market, Amazon is still the undeserved king. Its share is twice that of Microsoft, and the amount of investment that Amazon has disclosed in data centers far exceeds that of Microsoft and Google.

According to media statistics, in the past two years, Amazon has promised to invest 148 billion US dollars to build and operate data centers around the world.

Amazon's “cloud computing empire”

Before the advent of the AI boom era, Amazon was sparing no effort to build a “cloud computing empire.”

Relevant data shows that since 2020, the area of all real estate under Amazon (including data centers and office space) has doubled.

According to reports, Amazon's first data center was established in Virginia, and the region is still a key hub for video streaming and enterprise and government data storage; subsequently, Amazon opened a second data center in Oregon, making full use of the advantages of cheap local hydroelectric power generation and tax relief policies.

These two data centers are the main locations of Amazon's “cloud computing empire.” According to reports, for every 5 dollars of AWS (Amazon Web Services) infrastructure spending in the US, about 4 dollars comes from Virginia and Oregon.

Currently, the company plans not only to expand these two existing server fleets, but also to “expand” into new regions including Mississippi, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.

What is behind the “rampage” of data centers is competition for power resources

However, the “power shortage” problem faced by Amazon data centers in recent years has become more and more prominent.

During 2022, Dominion Energy, which supplies power the Virginia data center corridor, suspended connections to facilities that were ready to go online because it was unable to keep up with electricity demand; in Oregon, the electricity usage at the Amazon server center exceeded the local public quota for hydroelectric power generation, and Amazon was forced to buy electricity generated from natural gas.

In order to meet the surging demand for electricity under the AI boom, Amazon had to find ways to expand data centers, including but not limited to: investing in an existing data center park in Mississippi, investing 650 million US dollars in data center parks near nuclear power plants, and acquiring land with both data centers and substations...

Charles Fitzgerald, a former Microsoft manager, said:

“Right now, it's just a crazy land grab battle to be able to provide electricity as soon as possible.”

Energy pollution is a major concern

However, the expansion of data centers is attracting more and more opposition, mainly involving concerns about the environment and resources.

For example, according to media reports, Virginia residents complain that they have been polluted by data center noise all year round, and some environmentalists claim that data center parks occupy historic sites, and that their huge electricity demand will increase the use of fossil fuels and exacerbate global warming.

Although Amazon has been the largest global buyer of renewable energy for businesses and has promised that all operations will be partially renewable by 2025, these projects don't seem to include data centers.

Daniel Tait, research manager at the US utility regulator's Institute for Energy and Policy Research, said:

“Companies like Amazon are not only promoting more fossil fuel use in disguise, but they are also inducing later businesses to do the same.”

Miller, head of Amazon's data center, said the company is continuing to evaluate clean energy projects other than wind and solar power plants, including battery storage and nuclear power that can replace fossil fuel power plants. He promised to work with public welfare companies to find a way to “meet our energy needs with renewable, carbon-free electricity.”

editor/tolk